Diamonds
by Morralls
Summary: Nate muses over his team.
1. Diamonds

1They're all so different, but there's still a sameness to them. The same easygoing companionship, sometimes strained, but always there. The same kind hearts, even if they're thieves and criminals. They _feel_, when so many of their profession don't. That makes them all jewels that they aren't aware of. Diamonds in the rough.

Lizzie. She's caring, sweet. The religious aspect never allows her to swear, which can be funny on occasion. She's headstrong and very seldom listens to me, which can be very worrisome. Her heart is in the right place, as is her head. She's quick-witted and clever, and every inch my prodigy.

Sophie. Sophie's the mother, whether biologically or not. She could be the youngest of all of us, and she would still be 'Mom'. She's the one who worries about everyone, the group therapist. Sophie's the one who almost always knows things first, which generally means I'm the one who knows things second. She's the caring companion that we all need.

Parker. Parker has been through one too many hells. Her past is very dark, and that's why she's closed off, why she is afraid to get too close. She says that all she cares about is money, but anyone who knows her knows better than to believe that. She cares about her team, and wants to protect us from her past. What she doesn't realize is that we're trying to protect her as adamantly as she's trying to protect us. There's more of us than her. We'll win.

Hardison. Hardison is gold. He's the sensitive one, the one who's perception impresses me. There's something poetic about him. He fell for Parker quickly, and she's falling for him, despite her desire to protect him. Maybe she needs to be protected from him, maybe he needs to be protected from her. But maybe they can protect each other, and that's the beauty of the two of them.

Eliot. Eliot is the one who will go to any lengths for one of us. He listens, better than I often expect him to, and he thinks. He's smart, dedicated, and strong, and we're all grateful to have someone like that at our backs.

Then there's me. Somewhere along the line, I became 'Dad'. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I became 'Dad' to them, and they became my family. Now, they're mine to protect, and I _must_ protect them, and I will.

Funny how, in the end, it doesn't matter where they came from, or what they do. When you love someone, that's it. Nothing about them matters except that. So I have to protect them all, no matter what, and I will. Diamonds are precious. Ask Sophie. They need to be taken care of.


	2. Order

1Dedicated to the gang, and don't they know it.

It started with Sophie. She was before anyone else. She might have been the last to come to the team, but I chased her first, which makes her the beginning. Then it was Lizzie. Not because Lizzie wasn't around before I met Sophie. She was, but she didn't become a thief until after Sophie became a part of my life, which makes her the second thief that ended up as part of my team. Then I met Parker. Yes, she's crazy, but she was still third. Then it was Hardison, coming in fourth. Eliot is the oldest, but I met him last. The last person to come in was me. Maybe I was the first to have a part, but I was the last one to accept being a thief: being a criminal. I was the last one to accept what we do, which makes me the final member of the team, in a way. It's not conning people that I like. It's helping those who can't get help. That's why I'm still on the team. That, and what they've become to me. So here's to my team.


	3. Mistake

1It's a powerful thing, guilt. You wouldn't expect it to be enough to really destroy a team.... destroy a person... but it can. Easily. I messed up, and as a result, Eliot got hurt. They're all understanding, my diamonds. Even Eliot is prepared to forgive me. I don't know why. I don't think I honestly deserve it, but that won't stop him from forgiving me for causing him pain. When you're in the middle of a group of thieves like that, it's easy to hurt them. Trust is so easy to lose, and it will take me time to gain it back. I will. We love too easily and too much to really stay apart, but that doesn't mean much of anything if we stay together and can't trust each other.

Eliot says he forgives me, but he's still nursing his wounds. He's cold to me, and that's what's the worst. I would change everything. Modify my plan, and stay away from this client, but I can't. What's done is done, and nothing I do will change the past. Change my actions, and change my mistakes.

I only hope that Eliot will be able to forgive me at some point. That he'll be able to find that easygoing caring he had.

I'll do anything to earn his trust back. Anything at all.


	4. Requiem

1Author's Note: Dedicated to Chris Bradley, who 'gave us heartworms,' and took St. Louis by storm. Thank you for what you've given me. You were a friend, a brother, and a great person until the very end. You will never be forgotten.

Guilt. It's the most powerful thing I could have ever come up with. I brought in a true gem. A diamond by the name of Jackson. He was accepted to my team instantly, and was far too loveable not to stay there. Time and time again, he proved his worth to me. He was strong and prideful, and he was the most difficult man to control that I've met in my life. He and I argued all the time, and I spent most of my days yelling at him. Still, when it came down to it, he gave everything he had to my team, including his life.

Here I stand at a funeral that isn't fake. A life that was truly taken in my line of work, and I can't help but wonder if fighting so hard is worth the cost that could be paid in the end. Eliot blames himself, but there was nothing he could do. I was the one who called Jackson into it, and I was the one who pushed him to fall in love with Parker. In the end, the fault is mine, not Eliot's, not Parker's, and not Sophie's. The blame is mine, and I intend to take it.

A life was truly lived with Jackson, and I found him and started to care for him just in time to lose him. Funny the way things always work out like that.

I wonder if I should quit this, call it all off, but there is still danger, and I can only imagine what Jackson would say to me if I gave up now, after fighting so hard.. He will be avenged, if it's the last thing I do. I will finish the job that I started, for him. I swear that his death will not be in vain. I rest one hand on the casket and sigh.

"Adieu, mon amie. Je tu manquerai." (Goodbye, my friend. I will miss you.)

Rest in peace, Chris, my friend, my brother.


End file.
